How to Get a Personalized Roast From a Comedian

To get a personalized roast from a comedian, request it from that specific comedian rather than from a general video service: submit the target's name, your relationship to them, a few roast-worthy details, and any off-limits topics, then pay upfront. The comedian records a short custom video and delivers it within the turnaround they state. Two routes exist — a talent marketplace such as Cameo, or the comedian's own paid-request page. Personalized Videos let a follower pay upfront for one personalized video for themselves or someone they care about: you set the price and the delivery time, then record it on your schedule.

Sourcing and disclosure note: Brillay publishes this guide and operates one of the two routes it compares, so both routes are sourced the same way. Every Brillay figure cites Brillay's own pricing, how it works, homepage, or terms page, and every Cameo figure cites Cameo's own homepage, About page, Talent Hub, Terms of Service, app-store listing, or company blog. Each claim names the page it came from.

The two routes differ in who you buy from, not in whether money changes hands electronically. On a marketplace, a follower browses a roster of listed personalities and books through the marketplace's checkout; on a comedian's own request page, the follower follows that comedian's link and buys the one listing that comedian published. Both routes take online card payments and deduct their published fees from the comedian's earnings. Marketplace-scale personalized video is well established: Cameo's own blog reported in December 2024 that Cameo had generated over $310 million in talent earnings and facilitated more than 8.2 million personalized connections since its 2017 founding (Cameo blog).

What should you check before paying for a roast video?

Before paying for a roast, confirm the price, delivery time, refund terms, usage rights, off-limits topics, and public-posting permission; Brillay Personalized Videos include one delivered video. Every one of those six checks applies on a marketplace and on a comedian's own page alike.

Settle usage rights before ordering rather than after, because a marketplace licence can be narrower than a buyer assumes. Cameo's Terms of Service license a purchased video only for "the personal, non-commercial, and non-promotional purposes and (ii) at personal or commercial events of up to 1000 people," and that 1,000-person cap rules out putting a purchased roast in an advertisement (Cameo Terms of Service). An independent comedian selling from their own page sets their own usage terms instead, so a buyer who plans to post a roast publicly should say so in the brief.

What is a personalized roast from a comedian?

A personalized roast from a comedian is a short, custom-recorded video in which an independent comedian teases or insults one specific named person, built from details a follower submits and pays for in advance. A personalized roast is a paid version of the "roast me" bit a comedian might otherwise do free in a comment reply.

Two different formats both get called a "roast." When a friend records their own roast of another friend, that format is covered separately in roast-a-friend video message ideas — no comedy background required, just two people who already know each other. A personalized roast from a comedian is different: the follower is paying for a specific creator's comedic voice, timing, and material, the same way they'd pay for any other Personalized Video.

A roast is a named buyer occasion rather than a niche request. Cameo's About page reports "6.1M+ Cameos delivered" and describes that catalogue as "Birthdays, roasts, pep talks, and everything between," which places roasts beside birthdays as a standard reason to buy a personalized video. Cameo's About page also reports an average rating of 4.95 across more than 1.9 million reviews of personalized videos, a review volume that shows how routine the paid custom-video purchase has become.

How do you find a comedian who takes roast requests?

You find a comedian who takes roast requests through the bio link that comedian posts on social media, not through a searchable talent directory. No central index of roast-taking independent comedians exists, so discovery starts on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube and ends on the comedian's own request page. One bio link that carries every offer: followers pay you as guests by card, at prices you set, whatever format the request takes.

Brillay describes discovery as a creator-driven step, telling creators to "put your Brillay link in your TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube bio, and point followers to it".

On a direct-request page, a roast is sold as a personalized video listing rather than as its own product category — on Brillay it sits inside Personalized Videos, alongside Tips, Paid Questions, and Custom Work the same comedian may also have switched on. Brillay's how it works page describes the creator's setup step in its own words: "Turn on the offers that fit you — enable Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, Custom Work, tips, goals, and brand inquiries — each with your own price and delivery time." Because each offer is switched on individually by the creator, a comedian's published page may or may not have a personalized-video listing live at all, and that listing is the first block a follower should look for.

Discovery is the sharpest practical difference between the two routes. Cameo's homepage invites buyers to "Browse 50,000+ stars," a roster Cameo's About page describes as spanning "acting, sports, music, reality, comedy, and creator-verse". An independent comedian has no equivalent searchable roster and is found only where that comedian posts their own link. Some comedians field roast requests as a text-based Paid Question when the "roast" is really a one-line joke reply rather than a recorded video, so check which listing a comedian has published before paying for the wrong one.

What should you include when requesting a roast?

A useful roast request gives the comedian everything they need to write the bit without a back-and-forth: the target's name, your relationship to them, the occasion, and anything that's off-limits. Vague requests like "just roast my friend" tend to produce generic material, while specific requests produce a bit that actually lands.

Marketplaces ask for the same short brief: Cameo's homepage tells buyers "Write the script. A few sentences is all it takes. Name, occasion, a couple of inside jokes" (Cameo). A roast brief written for an independent comedian works the same way, with the off-limits list as the one addition — and because a roast targets someone who isn't paying, that off-limits list is the clearest way to keep a joke funny instead of genuinely upsetting.

How much does a personalized roast video cost?

A personalized roast video costs whatever the individual comedian sets for that listing, because no platform in this category publishes a fixed or average roast price. Buyers should expect a spread rather than a standard rate: video length, the comedian's demand, and the delivery time being promised all move the number a comedian chooses to charge.

Creators set the price for each offer, and followers pay the listed price at checkout.

Published marketplace price bands give a buyer a rough anchor. Cameo's Talent Hub instructs its own talent to "Choose a price that will get you into one of our featured tag pages (under $50, under $100, under $150)" (Cameo Talent Hub). Those three bands are Cameo's published shopping tiers for personalized video, not a Brillay benchmark, and an independent comedian selling through Brillay can price above or below them.

Brillay's pricing page states the checkout math in its own words:

"No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate." — Brillay pricing

The table below is a labeled sample scenario, not a platform average, a published price list, or an earnings claim. Each row applies Brillay's published 8% platform fee for follower-paid work and Stripe's published 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction, which Stripe lists as its standard US online rate for domestic cards and raises for international cards (Stripe pricing), to a price a comedian might choose to set.

Every figure in the sample table is arithmetic on Brillay's published 8% platform fee for follower-paid work and Stripe's published 2.9% + 30¢ US online card rate, rounded to the cent; followers pay upfront. Buying direct is not a cash handoff: Stripe still processes the card, and Brillay charges an 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work and 5% on tips and goals, with no monthly fee.

Audience size is not a gate on the direct route. Brillay's homepage FAQ answers the question of whether a creator needs a following with "No. There is no follower minimum and nothing to apply for — the only requirement is that someone wants to interact with you", so a comedian selling a roast this way does not need a verified celebrity account.

How long does it take to receive a roast video?

Delivery time for a roast video is whatever delivery time the comedian states on that listing, typically a few days rather than minutes. A personalized roast is a recorded video, not a live call or appointment, so plan around the delivery time the comedian lists.

Brillay's Personalized Videos page advises creators to publish "a clear delivery time (like 3–5 days)" so a follower knows when the video arrives. Brillay's how it works page states the underlying model in its own words: "Brillay is asynchronous — you answer questions by text and deliver Personalized Videos or services as recordings or files on your own time, within the delivery time you set. There are no live video calls or appointments to schedule."

A check on 3 September 2026 of the three Brillay pages that describe shoutout mechanics — pricing, how it works, and Personalized Videos — found no rush, expedited, or same-day tier described on any of those three pages, which is the scope of that check rather than a statement about every page on the site. Marketplaces do sell speed as a separate product: Cameo's Apple App Store listing states that "After it's submitted, stars have up to 7 days to complete it" and that "A 24hr delivery option is available from participating stars if you need it sooner" (Cameo App Store listing). A follower who needs a roast by a specific date should confirm that date with the comedian before ordering rather than assume a rush tier exists.

Cameo publishes its timing in two different places. Cameo tells buyers on its homepage that a personalized video arrives "typically within 7 days", while Cameo's Talent Hub tells its talent to "Complete their request within 4 days". Requesting well before a birthday or going-away party gives a comedian room to fit the recording around live shows and other paid work.

How does a Brillay roast compare with booking a comedian on Cameo?

Cameo is a talent marketplace where a follower browses a roster of often-famous personalities and books through Cameo's own checkout. A Brillay roast request instead goes to one independent comedian's own page, with no roster to browse — and the two platforms take different cuts of the same sale, which is why a comedian's list price can differ between them.

Every row in the Brillay-versus-Cameo table comes from the linked Brillay and Cameo pages.

Cameo's Terms of Service set the fulfillment window a buyer agrees to:

"The Talent User has up to seven days or longer (at our sole discretion) to fulfill or decline your request." — Cameo Terms of Service

Cameo's stated 30% cut and Brillay's 8% platform fee for follower-paid work (5% on tips and goals) are not directly comparable, because a curated celebrity marketplace and a promoted direct-request link are different businesses, and card processing is separate on either route.

Marketplace onboarding now runs at real scale. Cameo's own blog reported in December 2024 that its self-serve CameoX onboarding had attracted 31,000 new self-enrolled creators who completed more than 155,000 Cameos in 18 months, and TechCrunch reported the same CameoX figures on 3 December 2024. What a marketplace supplies is discovery; what a comedian's own link supplies is a request path for followers who already know that comedian by name.

What happens if the comedian declines or the joke goes too far?

Followers pay upfront; you can decline a request. Declining is the mechanism both routes use, so a clear off-limits list in the original brief is what keeps a paid request from being turned down.

Brillay's how it works page answers the question "What if I get a request I don't want to fulfill?" with: "You can decline and refund it. You're always in control of what you take on".

Declining matters more for roast requests than for most Personalized Video occasions, because the subject of the joke usually isn't the person paying for it. Brillay's terms of service, section 10, states that "Creators may reject and refund inappropriate requests" and that "The platform or an administrator may refund for safety, compliance, or payment issues". Marketplaces draw the same line: Cameo's Community Guidelines, under the heading "Cruelty, Harassment, Bullying," tell users not to "post or solicit content that is (or incites or encourages) illegal, abusive, harassing" (Cameo Community Guidelines). There is no back-and-forth before delivery on Brillay, so include sensitive topics and firm off-limits boundaries in the original request; the comedian can decline anything they are not comfortable recording.

Can you request a roast for someone else as a gift?

Yes, you can request a roast for someone other than yourself, and a third-party target is the norm for this format rather than an exception. A birthday roast for a friend, a going-away roast for a coworker, or a trash-talk video before a fantasy football draft are all requests made about someone by someone else who pays.

Buying a personalized video as a gift is the dominant pattern on the marketplace side too: Cameo's 2021 Year in Review blog post stated that "~80% of Cameos are given as gifts," an approximate figure Cameo published for its 2021 volume rather than a current measurement. Cameo's About page groups "roasts" with birthdays and pep talks as the occasions its catalogue is built around.

Third-party requests show up in adjacent roast occasions as well: a fantasy league roast built around a rival's draft picks and losing streak follows the same request pattern, covered separately in fantasy football trash-talk video message ideas. In every case, naming the relationship and any off-limits topics up front helps the comedian aim the joke correctly instead of guessing.

If you're a comedian reading this from the other side of a roast request, how comedy creators sell personalized videos walks through setting the offer up, pricing it, and scoping what you will and won't record.

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Publisher navigation, not editorial guidance: Brillay publishes this guide and operates the direct-request route that this guide compares with Cameo. Comedians who want to set up their own roast listing can Create your free Brillay page.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about buying a roast video cover four things: whether the target can be someone other than the buyer, what happens to refunds after delivery, whether the finished video may be posted publicly, and what each platform charges. Short answers to all four follow, each citing the platform page the rule comes from.

Can I request a roast about someone other than myself?

Yes. A roast request is typically aimed at a friend, coworker, or family member rather than the person paying. Give the comedian that person's name, your relationship to them, and any off-limits topics so the joke lands the way you intend.

What is Brillay's refund policy after a roast video is delivered?

After delivery, a follower can open a support conversation on the order to ask for a correction or a refund; there's no guaranteed revision or automatic outcome, a creator may decline a request before doing the work, and Brillay may also refund for safety, compliance, or payment issues. Before recording, a comedian can decline it if the brief isn't something they want to do.

Can I post a roast video publicly after I buy it?

Ask the comedian before ordering, because usage rights differ by platform. Cameo's Terms of Service license a purchased video for "the personal, non-commercial, and non-promotional purposes and (ii) at personal or commercial events of up to 1000 people". An independent comedian selling from their own request page sets their own terms, so confirm in the brief whether posting the roast to a public feed is allowed.

How is a Brillay roast request different from Cameo?

Cameo is a talent marketplace you browse and book through Cameo's own platform, while a Brillay roast request goes directly to one independent comedian's own page. Cameo's Talent Hub states "You take 70% we take 30%" on web bookings, a different fee model than Brillay's 8% platform fee for follower-paid work and 5% on tips and goals.

What does Brillay charge?

Brillay has an 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work and 5% on tips and goals; each Personalized Video is a one-time purchase, followers need no account to buy, and creators can receive payouts in 41 countries. Stripe's published pricing lists 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction as its standard US online rate for domestic cards, which is Stripe's own rate rather than an industry average.